Article of Faith
by Kerry
Summary: AU. Sully's daughter has to name him and other member's of the Third Watch as corrupt cops. Read and review please.
1. Real News

"Ronald? Are you listening to me?" Placing her hands on her hips, the 23 year old blonde gave her editor a look.  
  
"Of course I am, but I think you need to listen to me," He motioned for her to have a seat as he looked up from his e-mail. "Everyone wants to write 'real news', kid. There are people out there who would kill for the opportunity...just like there are people who would kill for your job."  
  
"My job?" Mary took the seat that had been offered. "I'm a theatre critic."  
  
"For the New York Times." He couldn't repress his smile. Mary Sullivan was one of the best staff writers he had and truth be told, he liked the girl. She reminded him a lot of himself when he first started out...only he had been stuck writing obituaries. He just wasn't sure she was ready to write real news. Oh sure, she was capable...but emotionally? He didn't know if he was quite ready to send her out to meet harsh reality.  
  
"Come on...just give me a chance. I'll write you the best article you've ever seen. Come on, Ronald. Please. Please..."  
  
"If I say yes will you stop giving me that look? My four year old niece can't make puppy dog eyes as well as you can...."  
  
"Well I've had years of practice. But yes, if you agree I will stop making you feel guilty using just my facial expressions."  
  
"Fine. Fine. I'll give you a shot." He shook his head, amused. "Let's see.I won't make you cover the political press conference.that's just mean. What about..no, no that won't work..you could check out..no.." As he was talking, he was searching through his e-mail, looking at the various leads. "Ahhhh.here we go." He turned back to Mary. "Corrupt cops." He handed her the e-mail he had printed out. "I want you to investigate those 4 officers and see what you can find out. Think you can do that?"  
  
"Do I think I can? Ronald, please.." She was smiling, but her smile faded as she looked down at the names: Tyrone Davis Jr., John Sullivan, Maurice Boscorelli, Faith Yokas. Was he serious? He couldn't be serious.  
  
"Problem?"  
  
"Are you sure.are you sure these are the right names?"  
  
"Positive." He nodded.  
  
"But my father's on this list."  
  
"I know." And he had known. He was testing her. Seeing if she could do it or if she would let her personal feelings get in the way. It was cruel, yes, but it was also life. "If you don't think you can do this, I ca."  
  
"No, no. I got it." She stood. "Is it okay if I get out of here? Take the rest of the day to make a game plan?"  
  
Ronald nodded, "Of course. Main thing is to get the story. Just check in every few days, okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Mary?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I have faith in you. You can do this, kid."  
  
Well that makes one of us, she thought to herself as she left the office. If it had been any other article she'd agree with him one hundred and ten percent. But this.this was diffirent. This was her dad. He couldn't be corrupt. And Ty. The same Ty she had known since she was 4. The same Ty she had been dating since college. Him? Corrupt? He was annoyingly non-corrupt. And sure, Bosco was an asshole. Everyone knew that. But he wasn't corrupt. Where was Ronald getting this information? That was a question to consider.  
  
Of course, the bigger question was what was she going to do? Well she knew the first thing she was going to do; she was going to go home and get out of these heels. 


	2. Anonymous Tips

Disclaimer: Still don't own the "Third Watch" characters. ****************************  
  
Arriving back at her apartment, Mary kicked off her heels and dropped her bag onto the couch in her living room before moving back to the bedroom to change. As she passed the phone, she pressed the play button on her answering machine.  
  
"First message. Left Monday August 18th at 9:05 a.m. Mary, it's Mom. I know you're at work but I figure you'll check your messages and I didn't want to bother you by calling your cell phone. Your dad has off tonight and so we wanted you and Ty to come by for dinner. Call me back. Love you."  
  
She smiled and shook her head as she pulled off her black pants and sweater, switching them for a pair of jeans and a soft, gray tee shirt that Ty had left there. Like telling her mother no was an option.  
  
"Second message. Left Monday August 18th at 10:32 a.m. Hey you. Tried your cell but it was off. Your mom called and wants us to have dinner at their place tonight. Meet you at your apartment at 6? Give me a call. Love you."  
  
Grabbing the portable phone off the nightstand beside her bed, Mary padded back to the kitchen to grab a bottle of Diet Coke before settling on the couch and calling Ty back. Hopefully he wouldn't be sleeping; she hated waking him.  
  
It rang twice before he picked up. "Hello?"  
  
"Did I wake you?"  
  
"Nope. I was making coffee. How's work?"  
  
"I wouldn't know," she smiled as she envisioned the confused look on Ty's face. "Ronald let me leave after our meeting."  
  
"Good or bad?"  
  
"The meeting?" She paused, thinking. "Good. I'll explain it all to you later." She knew that no matter what she told Ty, she had to tell him in person. "You want to come over?"  
  
"Yeah. Just let me grab a shower and I'll be right over."  
  
After saying their good-byes, the two of them hung up. Mary figured she had about twenty to thirty minutes until Ty got to her place so she glanced back down at the e-mail Ronald had handed her. She looked down at the bottom and noticed there was no name, no way to tell who had sent it. That was odd. Now she was more than just a little curious.  
  
Grabbing the phone, she dialed her office. "New York Times, Ronald Fraiser's office." Ronald's secretary answered.  
  
"Jenna, It's Mary. Can you patch me through to Ronald."  
  
"Sure thing. Hold on a sec," Mary waited while Jenna connected her to Ronald. A few moments later, he was on the line.  
  
"Mary, what can I do for you? I didn't expect you to be checking in so early."  
  
"Well, I was looking at the e-mail you received and there's no name. Do you know who sent this?"  
  
"No, it was anonymous."  
  
"Do you think you could find out? Or have someone else find out?"  
  
"I can try. Any particular reason you need it?"  
  
"Just curious. Might help to know if it's someone inside or outside the precinct that's naming them."  
  
Though she couldn't see it, Ronald was smiling. She might just make a top notch reporter after all. "I'll see what I can do. Want me to call you at home?"  
  
"Cell. It's with me no matter what."  
  
"Right. Later."  
  
Hanging up with her editor, Mary took a deep breath. Once she had that name it should make things a bit easier. At least then she'd know who accused them - if it was someone not associated with the precinct, she'd know all this was just a bunch of crap and if it was someone inside the precinct.well that would take a bit more thought. But at least she had a starting place. ***** By the time Ty got there, she had jotted down a few notes and made a list of people to call - the first being the Sergeant. If there had been any complaints of charges filed against them, he would know about it. Plus he might be able to get her their files.or at least a look at them.  
  
Letting her boyfriend into the apartment, Mary wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. She was only 5'4" and so the height difference between them was noticeable; at times it was even nice - like when she was hugging him. He was great for hugs.  
  
Ty smiled, "Hello to you too..isn't that my shirt?"  
  
"Yeah. I found it in my room. I'd offer to give it back but it's just so comfy."  
  
"Keep it. Looks better on you anyway." Grabbing something to drink, Ty settled on the couch and pulled Mary down beside him. "So tell me about your meeting?"  
  
"You know how I told you I wanted to talk to Ronald about writing 'real' news? I did. I met with him this morning and told him I wanted to do something other than theatre reviews and he gave me a story to cover."  
  
"Go you!" Ty smiled at her, holding her close. "Tell me all about it."  
  
"Well." Mary wasn't quite sure how to tell him this. "It's on the 55th Precinct. I'll probably have to bug you and dad for a few nights. Bosco and Faith too."  
  
"That'll be fun. Do you need to interview us? Find out about all the heroic things we've done." He was joking, of course, but there was a bit of excitement in his voice. Ty was the kind of cop, and the kind of person, that wanted to see good in everything and everyone. He wanted to help people, to make their lives better - of course he was excited about the opportunity for some good press. If only he knew.  
  
"Something like that." She smiled sadly. "I'm gonna call Mom and let her know we're coming." She called her mother and told her that they'd be over to the house around 7 for dinner. Then, hanging up, she tried to get Ty off the subject of her article by asking him how work had been for him lately.  
  
It worked and before he had time to ask again, they had to head out to meet the elder Sullivans. 


	3. Dinner with the Parents

Disclaimer: No ownership of any of the "Third Watch" characters claimed. Oh and a small note. This takes place right after Season 4, which will be important at the end of this chapter. You'll see why. ***** Lillian was setting the plates on the table when she heard the door open. A moment later she heard voices as Sully came out of the bedroom to greet the kids. A small smile played on her lips; kids, they weren't kids anymore. As much as she hated to admit it, Mary and Ty had grown up. They were no longer chasing each other around the living room, engaging in pillow fights or a game of catch with the dog. No, they were adults. And they were perfect.well perfect for each other at least. Lillian couldn't think of anyone she'd rather see Mary with.  
  
Just like there was no one else for her but Sully. It was odd.when she had first met him, she couldn't stand him. She was a public defender fresh out of Georgia and he was a smart ass Yankee cop, but somehow he managed to charm her. She couldn't imagine her life without him. Smiling, she walked into the living room to join them. "Hello, you two."  
  
"Hi, Momma." Mary hugged her mother, not even realizing how much she needed that hug until it happened. Maybe she could pull her mother away later and talk to her in private; she understood what it was like to not always be on the same side as those you love. Maybe she could tell her how to get through this. Maybe.  
  
"Baby, is something wrong?"  
  
"Just tired."  
  
"Tired?" Ty gave her a teasing grin. "What are you tired from? You got the day off."  
  
Now Lillian looked really worried. Sully too, which is why he ended up asking, "You okay, kiddo?"  
  
"Yeah. It's nothing like that. I had a meeting with my editor this morning and he gave me the rest of the day off."  
  
Ty nodded, "Mary's moving up in the world. She now has a story to investigate." He looked over at his partner, "And.it's about us. You're finally going to be a celebrity, Sul."  
  
"Well yippee. Let me go grab my autograph pen right now." He shrugged. "At least Boscorelli will be jealous."  
  
Ty shook his head. "He and Faith are a part of it too."  
  
Lillian ignored the cops and gave all her attention to her only child, "What's the story?"  
  
"Can we wait and talk about it after dinner?" Lillian knew Mary well enough to know she was genuinely upset and so let it go with a nod.  
  
She turned back to the men, "Ready for dinner?"  
  
"Is Sully breathing?" Ty quipped before adding his little "ooohh."  
  
Mary rolled her eyes, "Don't forget, Ty. I've seen you eat."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." **** The meal was great. The food was excellent and the four of them sat around talking about all sorts of different things. Then during one lull in the conversation, Mary decided to brave the dreaded topic.just to get a feel for how he'd react. "Daddy.I have sort of an odd question for you?"  
  
Sully, doubting he could be phased by any question, simply nodded.  
  
"Have you ever.well.have you ever done anything while working that wasn't quite.kosher?"  
  
Lillian gave her daughter a wary glance, not sure if she liked where this was going.  
  
Sully, on the other hand, knew he didn't like where this was going and was wondering why she would ever ask him something like this. But just to make sure, he was going to make her clarify. "What do you mean by 'wasn't quite kosher'?"  
  
"You know.bend the rules a bit. Ensured things turned out the way you wanted them to?"  
  
"Are you asking me if I'm corrupt?"  
  
"No.." But Mary's voice didn't sound too sure. She never was any good at lying to him.  
  
"What's all this about, kid? You think I'm a corrupt cop?"  
  
"No! Of course not! I just."  
  
Ty shook his head, "Come on.this is your dad. He would.wait. Is this what you're article's about? They want you to name your father as corrupt?"  
  
"Not just Dad."  
  
"Well who else could you.me? Me? Mary, I'd never."  
  
"I know that. But I guess they figure like father, like son. Bosco and Faith were also named."  
  
"By who?" Sully was getting pissed. But then again what else was new.  
  
"John, calm down." Lillian interjected, hoping to be the voice of reason.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"I don't know. Ronald's going to try to find out. The tip was anonymous."  
  
Sully nodded, "Now I got another question for you. Do you believe any of this?"  
  
She shook her head, "Should I?"  
  
He just gave her a 'what do you think' look. She nodded. "Right. Stupid question."  
  
"Now I have a question," Ty interjected. "What are we going to do about this?"  
  
"Well my plan is to set up a meeting with the Sergeant. Maybe get a look at your files. They should show your clean. Then if we can find out who named you.we can find out why they thought this."  
  
"Or who set them up," Lillian added.  
  
Mary gave her mother an odd look.  
  
"You'd be surprised how often that happens. I see it all the time." She smiled. "Just do me a favor and don't rule it out right away, okay?"  
  
"Sure." Mary was open to anything right now.  
  
"Good girl." Lillian grinned. "Now who wants dessert?"  
  
Mary and John gave her identical looks. Dessert? How could she be thinking of dessert right now?  
  
Lillian couldn't help but laugh. They were so much alike; she was surprised Mary hadn't become a cop but then again it could be because she had hated the idea. She spent every night wondering if her husband was coming home. She wasn't going to worry about her baby that way. "There's nothing that can be done til Mary gets that name, so why don't we all just relax."  
  
The two nodded and she disappeared into the kitchen to bring out the pie she had made. While she was gone Mary's cell phone rang. Jumping up, the girl excused herself and stepped out into the other room to answer it. "Talk to me."  
  
"Well it took a lot of work and about ten different people but I have a name for you."  
  
"You do!? Ronald, you're the best. Who is it?"  
  
She listened as Ronald relayed the information to her. Hanging up, she headed back into the dining room with a serious expression on her face.  
  
Concerned, Ty began to stand, "Baby, who was it?"  
  
"Ronald.he got me the name?"  
  
"And?" Sully was more than curious.  
  
"Cruz. It was Cruz." 


	4. A Plan

Disclaimer: See the first 3 chapters. ****** "Cruz!" Sully was outraged. "I knew she was a bitch.but I never thought she'd stoop this far."  
  
Ty nodded, "She must be pissed about what Bosco did."  
  
"Get Boscorelli on the phone.tell him to get his ass over here. And if Faith could come that would be helpful too."  
  
Ty walked over to the phone, while Mary gave her father a confused look. "Dad? What are you doing?"  
  
Sully looked at his daughter, "I'm getting Faith and Bosco over here so we can set up a course of action."  
  
"Course of action?" Mary raised an eyebrow, "Are we going to war?"  
  
"In a way. Yeah." He looked over at Lillian, "You might want to put on more coffee. This is going to be a long night."  
  
She nodded, "I was just about to say that myself." She turned and headed into the kitchen. ****** Bosco and Faith arrived a half-hour later. Since Ty had been rather cryptic on the phone, neither one of them had a clue what was going on. This, in turn, meant that Bosco was less than pleasant about having changed his plans for the evening. "All right, Sul, this better be good. I have a blonde soon to be model waiting for me back at my apartment."  
  
"Don't be such a jerk, Bosco." Faith slipped off her jacket. "So what's going on?"  
  
"Cruz." Sully motioned for them to take a seat.  
  
Faith shook her head, "Why am I not surprised? What has she done now?"  
  
"Found a way to get revenge on Bosco for not backing her up. And it looks like she's taking all of us with him." He launched into an explanation of the past few hours and what they had found out.  
  
Faith nodded, listening, before asking the obvious question. "So what do we do?"  
  
"Get her back," Bosco answered quickly. "We let her know she's not getting away with this."  
  
"No." Sully looked at him. "If she knows we know.it could be bad. We have to be smart about this."  
  
"Well that automatically rules Bosco out," Ty quipped, giving the other cop.  
  
"Oh very funny."  
  
"I thought so."  
  
"Hey!" Faith interjected before it could get too far. "What are you? My kids? Quit it!" She then turned back to Sully, "You got a plan?"  
  
"I'm working on one."  
  
Lillian emerged from the kitchen, bringing coffee to Bosco and Faith. "May I make a suggestion?"  
  
They all nodded.  
  
"You do nothing.not yet. Mary continues writing her article.but puts a new spin on it. As far as everyone knows, she's doing what she was assigned to do. She'll follow you guys around, she'll look at your files, but she'll also look at Cruz's. It only makes sense to write up the 'brave' individual who came forward. But when the article goes to print it'll be about Cruz. How she hid evidence on those cases, how she was bent on revenge, and how to cover her own ass she framed the four of you. In the meantime, the four of you," she paused to shoot a meaningful glance at Bosco. "Will be on your absolute best behavior. Sound good?"  
  
There were nods all around and a complaint from Bosco as to why everyone felt the need to tell HIM to behave.  
  
Lillian smiled, "Good."  
  
The rest of the night was spent just sitting there talking. Bosco hurried back to his date, but Faith stayed for a while enjoying the chance to talk to someone who wasn't her kids or her husband.  
  
Beginning tomorrow night, they'd put their plan into action. 


	5. On the Job Night One

Disclaimer and Author's Note: For a disclaimer see the earlier chapters. I'm so sorry it's taken this long to get chapter 5 up, but school started and things got crazy. However, I'm back to updating now. So yay!  
  
Oh.and should Ty propose? Let me know. ****** Wanting to catch a ride with Ty, so she didn't have to worry about parking the car, Mary forced her boyfriend to get to work an hour early. This way she would have some time to look at the files before heading out on patrol with them.  
  
As they pulled up in front of the station, Ty laid a hand on Mary's arm - a signal for her to wait a second before opening the door.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I just want a minute with you." He gave her one of his smiles.  
  
She smiled back, "I think that'll be okay." Her hand slipped into his. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too." He let his lips lightly brush her fingers. "Ready?"  
  
"Depends. To go through your file looking for dirt? No. To see you and Dad at work? Oh yeah." She opened her door and stepped out. "Sure you don't mind I dragged you here early?"  
  
"Nah. I'm sure there's some paperwork I should be doing anyway." He closed the door on his side as they headed across the street. "But I'm sure I can think of some way for you to make it up to me?"  
  
"Promise?" Giggling, Mary stepped up onto the curb in front of the door. Ty held it open for her and the two went headed in. ****** Inside the precinct was, as always, a buzz of activity. They waded their way through the people and over to the desk where an annoyed looking Swertzsky was hanging up the phone. "Davis? What are you doing here? You're early."  
  
"Gave Mary a ride."  
  
"Well thank god for that. Go up to in processing. They could use the help until roll call." He looked at Mary. "Now what can I do for you since I doubt you're looking for Sullivan or Davis."  
  
"I need their files. Along with the file for Cruz, Boscorelli, and Yokas. It's for press reasons, I promise."  
  
"If I ask you to explain why will it take long?"  
  
"Probably." "Then I'll trust you. Go up to the file room, tell the officer on duty I sent you."  
  
"Thanks, Lew. You're my favorite."  
  
Swertsky smiled despite himself. "Yeah yeah yeah."  
  
Mary disappeared up the steps as Swertsky turned to address the next person who needed his attention. ****** The files didn't hold anything Mary didn't already know. Well except for a few incidents concerning Bosco, but they were more amusing than anything else. Still she took notes on anything and everything that seemed important. Before she knew it, it was 2:50 and roll call was almost over.  
  
Returning the files to the officer at the desk, she headed down the hall to wait for her dad and Ty outside of the roll call room. They filed out, along with Bosco and Yokas. Bosco flashed Mary a smile, "Sure you wanna tag along with them? Cause you're gonna have a boring night. Yokas and I are where the action is."  
  
Ty rolled his eyes, giving Bosco a mock glare. "You just keep your action away from my girlfriend, okay?"  
  
"Davis.let's go! Before I reconsider allowing your action near my daughter." Sully was his usual cheerful self. He looked at Mary, "You ready?"  
  
"Yep. Got my notebook and my audio recorder. All set." She followed them out to the RPM, climbing in the back. "So what now?"  
  
"Now we drive around until we get a call.or come across something." Sully turned the corner and started driving away from the precinct building.  
  
The first hour or so was quiet. They drove around, talking, mostly about Sully and Davis' careers but sometimes other subjects would creep into the conversation. They had been driving around for almost an hour and a half when Sully randomly brought up Mary and Ty's relationship, "So how serious are you two?"  
  
"What? Dad!"  
  
"Sully!"  
  
"What?" He laughed. "I'm just asking. Your mothers are looking to pick out china patterns and I'm just wondering whether I should stop them or not?"  
  
"Of course!" Mary and Ty said in unison. They were serious, but marriage? Marriage had never entered the picture.or at least not that they would admit.  
  
Sully just smirked. They had answered a little too quickly and he knew what that meant. However, Ty saw that smirk.  
  
"Don't smile like that, Sul. We're not even thinking about marriage. And even if we were thinking about marriage.which we're not.we wouldn't be getting married just yet. Cause there's.things. You know?"  
  
"Yeah. I know." He just kept smirking. He and Lillian had once said the exact same thing, right before they got married.  
  
Turning another corner, the two cops managed to catch sight of a masked man running out of a convenience store. Sully groaned and stopped the RMP as Ty jumped out and took off running. Parking the car, he looked at Mary. "Stay."  
  
"What? No way! Two stories at once.come on, Dad."  
  
"No. I don't know if he's armed or what. Just stay put and I promise you'll get an interview with the perp." He got out of the car and took off in the same direction Ty had gone, but at a much slower pace.  
  
Mary sighed and leaned back. Well this was no fun. ****** Ty tackled the guy to the ground about two blocks from the robbery had taken place. He fought to hold the guy down while he got his cuffs out. "Hey.hey.you struggle and this is going to hurt."  
  
The guy apparently didn't care if it hurt or not, he just didn't want to go to jail and so he kept fighting right up until Sully arrived to help. They managed to get the guy cuffed and get him back to the RMP. Sully opened the door on Mary's side. "Out."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Out. You're riding up front. Davis will ride in back with this guy."  
  
"But my interview."  
  
Sully rolled his eyes. "Routine robbery, angel. There's no story here. No one was hurt and the goods were recovered. No one cares."  
  
Mary sighed and nodded. She had to admit he was right. The public no longer cared about happily ever after.  
  
He saw the look on his daughter's face and his own mirrored it. "C'mon.let's get this guy back to the house and then go find something to eat, okay?"  
  
"Yeah.food." Ty smiled as Mary just nodded. ****** The rest of the night continued much along the same lines. There were a few small calls but nothing major, and, thankfully, nothing to show that either of them were anything close to corrupt.  
  
However, despite the low activity, Mary was exhausted. So exhausted that she was under the covers and asleep before Ty was out of the shower. He sighed and climbed into bed beside her. Oh well. 


End file.
